Draft regulator



July .3, 1923.

1,460.634 C. H. ABBOTT ,DRAF'T REGULATOR Fi led Jan- 24 1921 PatentedJuly 3, 1923.

UNITED STATES,

CLAUDE H. ABBOTT, OF LISBON, NORTH DAKOTA.

DRAFT REGULATOR.

- Application filed January 24, 1921. Serial No. 439,581.-

T 0 all whom it 97mg! eo'ncem:

Be it known that I, CLAUDE H. ABBOTT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lisbon, in the county of Ransom and State of North Dakota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft Regulators;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved draft regulator, that is, a devicewhich is designed to automatically control the draft devices of ahot-water or steam heating sys tem according to the intensity of thefire in the fire-box, one of said draft devices being open when theother one is closed. Thus, when the fire is low, the check damper in thesmoke stack is closed and the front draft door is open and as soon asthe heat reaches a predetermined temperature, just the reverse is true,that is, the check damper is opened and the front draft door is closed.In this way, a uniform degree of heat is obtained at all times. 7

The principal object of the invention-is t0 sociated with and actuatedby thecirculating pipe leading from the boiler to the radiators in thevarious rooms, the device including a lever and a heat-controlledactuator bar or means therefor which is operated by the lengthening orshortening of said circulating pipe under the influence of' the heatedfluid passing therethrough.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this classincluding a chain adjusting device which makes it ossible to regulatethe amount of opening 0 the draft devices and also makes it possible torender either of such devices entirely inoperative by slackening thechain.

A further object of, the invention is to provide a device of this classwhich is very simple in construction, easy to install, positive inoperation, and extremely inexpensive to both the manufacturer and theuser.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designatelike' parts throughout thesame;

Figure 11s an elevational view of apor- I provide a draft regulatorwhich is' as-.

tion of a conventional type of hot-water heating system equipped with adraft regulator, constructed in accordance with this 1nvent1on.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of a portion of theregulator showing more clearly the manner in which the lever isconnected with the circulating pipes.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of so much of the structure as shown in Fig.2, showing more clearly the chain adjusting device.

For the purpose of illustration and to enable the reader to obtain aclear understanding of the device, I have shown in the drawings, aportion of the conventional type of hot-water heating system. Referbevaried as the draft regulator is appli cable to various types of similarheating systems. The detail description so far as it has gone, setsforth parts which do not form any part of this invention. The inventionresides in the construction and arrangement of the draft regulator.

The draft regulator above referred to comprises, in its preferred form,a relatively long lever l fulcrumed on the circulating pipe P, arelatively long heat controlled op erating bar 2, connections 3betweenthe le-' ver 1 anddraft devices, and a chain adjusting device t carriedby the aforesaid lever 1. More specifically described, it is to bestated that the lever 1 is in the form of a flat metal bar having anenlarged head 5 at one end provided with a notch 6 for reception of theshank of a headed stud or pivot pin 7 on the collar 8 which is fitted onthe circulating pipe P. At this point, I wish to direct attention to thefact that the collars 8 and 8 will be employed only when the device isbeing placed on a circulating pipe which is being installed, and if thepipe is already position, suitable means (not shown) will be substitutedfor these collars. The bar 2 is ofconsiderable length and is preferablycomposed of wood, which 'material is not so. liable to become expandedby the heated fluid passing through the circulating pipev on which it isarranged. One end of this arm is pivotally connected to the head 5 ofthe lever as indicated at 9 andtlie opposite end thereof is rigidly orpivotally connected to another collar or clamp 8 on the circulating pipeat a distance spaced from the first named collar. Set-screws 10 and 10are preferably used in connection with the collars in order to preventpossible slippage. With this construction and arrangement, it will beseen that the heated fluid passing continuously through the circulatingpipe will cause the latter to shorten or lengthen due to the contractionand expansion thereof. When it becomes so expanded or contracted, thecollars are moved toward or from each other as the case maybe and thepull of the actuating bar 2 on the pivoted end of the lever 1 causes thelatter to rock about its pivot and open or close the dampers accordingto the direction in which it moves, chains 3, as before stated, servingas connections between the dampers and lever 1,. At this point, it isthought well to state that the damper D or the lever will be equippedwith a counter-weight to normally retain the damper D closed and toretain the lever in the horizontal position disclosed in Fig. 1. Whenthe parts are in this position, it is obvious that one of the chains issufliciently taut to raise the draft door C.

As before intimated, the device also includes a chain adjusting device 4and thisv device in its preferred form comprises a drum 11 rotatablymounted on a laterally extending in 12 carried by the lever 1, said pinbeing isposed near the free end of said lever. It is to be noted thatunder normal conditions, the drum does not rotate but is operative,

substantially rigid, being held in such a position by means of a coiledspring 13 which forces it against a stop 14 on the end of said pin.wrapped around this drum and should it be desired to render either ofthe dampers inrotating the drum in such a way as to slacken theoperating chain for that partic ular damper. Attention is again directedto the fact that the drum does not rotate except when so moved by hand.If desired, one of the heads of the drum may be equipped with a pointeror indicator 15 for co-operation with a dial or scale 16 also carried bythe aforesaid lever. Thus, a gage is provided which may be effectivelyemployed to regulate the amount of opening of the dampers or todetermine just how much to slacken the chains in order to render thedampers inoperative.

Briefly described, the operation of the device is as follows: Thevariation in temperature of thehot water or steam passing through thecirculating pipeP causes the latter to expand or contract asthe tempera;a draft regulator,

The ends of the chain are this may be done by manually ture rises orfalls. Such expansion of the pipe causes it to lengthen slightly as iswell known. In so doing, the collars or clamps are moved away from eachother and a lengthwise movement is imparted to the bar 2, causing it toexert a pull on the head 5 of the lever l and in turn rock this leveraround its pivot 7. The lever then assumes a slightly upwardly inclinedposition and as it moves to such a position, it draws the chain 3upwardly and opens the check damper D in the smoke stack. The lever bytaking this position permits the chain 3 to slacken sufficiently topermit the front draft door C to close by gravity. When the pipe Pcontracts and assumes its normal position, the parts are returned to theposition disclosed in Fig. 1. If the weight of the lever, drum and otherparts which it carries, and weighted arm of the check damper D isinsufficient to overbalance the front draft door C, an additional weightmay be conne'cted'to the leverto insure proper opening of the draftdoor. Should it be desired to slacken or adjust the chains for any ofthe reasons'heretofore referred to, this may be accomplished by manuallyrotating the drum 11 as before stated, the indicating device or gagefunctioning to enable the operator to determine just how much to slackenor tighten the chains as the case may be.

A careful consideration of the foregoing descriptiontaken in connectionwith the drawings, is thought to be sutficient to enable persons skilledin the art to which the invention relates to obtain a. clearunderstanding of the same. Therefore, a more lengthy description isdeemed unnecessary. Sincej probably the best results may be obtainedwith the construction and arrangement herein shown and described, thisconstruction and arrangement is elected as a. plreferred embodiment ofthe invention.

owever, I wish it to be understood that various minor changes within thescope of the claims may be resorted to.

I claim: 1. The combination with a hot water or steam heating systemembodying a boiler, a

draft device,.and a circulating pipe, of a lever pivotally mounted onthe latter and actuated when it is contracted or expanded, said leverbeing provided at its free end with a laterally extending axle, a drumrotatable on said axle, the latter being provided at its freeend with astop, anda coiled spring arranged between said drum and lever" andsurrounding said axle fornormally preventing rotation of said drum to berotated by hand, and a chain having one of its ends-connected with saiddraft de its other end" wound around said vice and drum. T

but permitting it a lever provided at its free end with a lateralextension providing an axle, a drum rotatable on said axle, a stop onthe free end of the latter, a coil-spring surrounding the axle andinterposed between the drum and the lever to normally prevent rotationof the drum but permitting it to be manually rotated by hand,valve-operating chains wound on said drum, and heat-controlled meansconnected with the pivoted end of said lever for swinging it about itspivot.

3. In a draft regulator for furnaces and the like, a lever having a headat one end formed with a notch, an actuating bar pivotally connected atone end with said head, a pin extending laterally from the free end ofsaid lever, a stop on the free end of said pin, a drum rotatable on saidpin and bearing against said stop, flexible valve operating elementswound in opposite directions on said drum, and a coil spring surroundingsaid last named pin, being interposed between the drum and the lever andserving to hold the drum against rotation normally, permitting it to beturned by hand;

4. A draft regulator comprising a pair of collars adapted to surroundthe hot fluid circulating pipe or the like, .said collars being spacedapart but being movable toward and from each other to enable them to bead.- justed, set screws carried by the collars and engaging theaforesaid pipe to retain the collars invarious adjusted positions, aheaded stud carried by and projecting from one collar, a lever havingits inner end enlarged to form a head, said head being formed with anotch removably receiving the shank of the. aforesaid stud, an actuatingbar for the lever having pivotal connection at one end with the head ofthe lever at a point above the stud and being secured at its oppositeend to the other collar, and valve operating means associated with thefree end of the lever. v

5. In a draft regulator, a lever provided at its free end with a lateralextension providing an axle, a drum rotatable on the axle,

a stop on the free end of the axle, a dial-surrounding the inner end ofthe axle, a pointer carried by the drum and co-operable with thegraduations on the dial, and acoiled spring surrounding the axle betweenthe drum and the dial to hold the drum in various set positions.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

CLAUDE H. ABBOTT.

